My dad lost his wife, my mom, after 62 years together. He misses her everyday but there is no way he wants to go yet while he is in good health. There's more to life than a spouse.
Terminally ill 29-year-old woman plans to take her own life on Nov. 1
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they are one of the few couples that I have seen who didn't f*cking torture each other...who supported each other in front of others, they held hands during their walks and he has taken care of her for years as she slowly went away...he was the only one she knew any more...I am so glad for him that she never lost her ability to recognize him.
wow, 62 years! That's awesome. I know there is more to life then a spouse. Some people are not as able to cope and I can understand that.
My father passed last oct. My parents had spent just over 50yrs together. IT was extraordinarily hard to watch my mom go through that grief. Heart wrenching and I still feel terrible for her. She also is continueing to live without him.
Different strokes for different folks.
Glen Campbell's song about alzheimers'
Glen Campbell - I'm Not Gonna Miss You - YouTube
Everyone is talking like the poor woman's imminent demise is inevitable! Read up on Richard Bloch.
Sad, but better than the alternative. She got to go out on her own terms which is better than what most get.
Everybody dies.
She passed away with her family around her . I am glad the pain is gone , she was very brave.Terminally ill 29-year-old woman plans to take her own life on Nov. 1
Brittany Maynard is shown with her husband Dan in this photo from her death-with-dignity campaign website. The 29-year-old suffers from terminal cancer and plans to take her own life on Nov. 1, 2014 under Oregon law. (The Brittany Maynard Fund | Compassion & Choices)
The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, October 8, 2014 5:28PM EDT
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Brittany Maynard will not live to see if her advocacy makes a difference.
The 29-year-old woman expects to die no later than Nov. 1. If the brain cancer from which she suffers does not kill her in October, she plans to take advantage of Oregon's Death with Dignity Act and end her own life on first of November -- a few days after her husband's 30th birthday.
Maynard and her husband, Dan Diaz, uprooted from California and moved north because Oregon allows terminally ill patients to end their lives with lethal medications prescribed by a doctor.
Rather than silently await death, she has become an advocate for the group Compassion & Choices, which seeks to expand death-with-dignity laws beyond Oregon and a handful of other states.
A nationwide media campaign featuring Maynard's story began Monday, and has gone viral.
"I can't even tell you the amount of relief that it provides me to know that I don't have to die the way that it's been described to me, that my brain tumour would take me on its own," she says in an online video.
Oregon in 1997 became the first U.S. state to make it legal for a doctor to prescribe a life-ending drug to a terminally ill patient of sound mind who makes the request. The patient must swallow the drug without help; it is illegal for a doctor to administer it.
More than 750 people in Oregon used the law to die as of Dec. 31, 2013. The median age of the deceased is 71. Only six were younger than 34, like Maynard.
The state does not track how many terminally ill people move to Oregon to die. One of the "frequently asked questions" on the state Public Health Division website is: "How long does someone have to be a resident of Oregon to participate in the act?"
There is no minimum residency requirement, but a patient must prove to a doctor they are living in the state. Some examples of documentation include a rental agreement, an Oregon voter registration card or a state driver's license.
Maynard said she and her husband were newlyweds actively trying for a family when she learned on New Year's Day that she had brain cancer. By spring, she was given just six months to live.
"I hope to enjoy however many days I have on this beautiful earth and spend as much of it outside as I can surrounded by those I love," Maynard said in the video.
Barbara Coombs Lee, the author of Oregon's law and the president of Compassion & Choices, said Maynard approached the group in August.
"Our campaign now is to build public awareness, build public support so great that the politicians can no longer deny it," she said.
The Brittany Maynard Fund - YouTube
Brittany Maynard to take her own life on Nov. 1 under Oregon's Death with Dignity Act | CTV News
I hope she has the greatest October of her life.
We learned in another thread that this old axiom has become false. Yes, you would jump off a cliff and you would take a selfie on the way down. This is the modern age. Unfortunately you will be forced to get with the program...
That is sort of how my mother found out I was jumping off the 45 ft. cliff at Eagle River when I was about 10. Apparently every one else is doing it was the wrong answer. Who knew?
Tony Scott, the well known Hollywood director of such films as Top Gun and Crimson Tide was afflicted with the same disease (brain cancer) and also committed suicide a couple of years ago. He jumped from a bridge.
But Brittany seems to have fallen into a category that have no intention of seeing their lives out.. but also demands public attention and PITY..and especially AFFIRMATION of the act in some sordid family ritual.
It does not disguise the fact that suicide is the coward's way out. It denies fundamentally any concept of dignity, purpose, responsibility, destiny in life.. unless it can be lived in settings of absolute comfort and security. But that's not what life is all about.
It rejects any idea of the redeeming value of suffering.. which is at heart of Christian.. and in fact most faiths. It implicates the family, the medical profession and society in a conspiracy of aiding and abetting an act of utter hopelessness and capitulation.. leaving a residue of guilt and moral ambiguity for all.
People have always muddled through their 'last agonies' as the Church describes them. Their discomfort can be alleviated. But this was a very selfish and ill considered act. It hardly warrants celebrity status. It might deserve compassion, but not empathy. It seems she was putting forward a case that misery craves company.
But Brittany seems to have fallen into a category that have no intention of seeing their lives out.. but also demands public attention and PITY..and especially AFFIRMATION of the act in some sordid family ritual.
It does not disguise the fact that suicide is the coward's way out. It denies fundamentally any concept of dignity, purpose, responsibility, destiny in life.. unless it can be lived in settings of absolute comfort and security. But that's not what life is all about.
It rejects any idea of the redeeming value of suffering.. which is at heart of Christian.. and in fact most faiths. It implicates the family, the medical profession and society in a conspiracy of aiding and abetting an act of utter hopelessness and capitulation.. leaving a residue of guilt and moral ambiguity for all.
People have always muddled through their 'last agonies' as the Church describes them. Their discomfort can be alleviated. But this was a very selfish and ill considered act. It hardly warrants celebrity status. It might deserve compassion, but not empathy. It seems she was putting forward a case that misery craves company.
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Forcing someone to stay alive against their will is also selfish. She had a long time to consider it all. This wasnt done for attention's sake but to raise awareness about the issue.